The digital version of the 2016-17 Explore Greater Rochester is now available! To access it, click on the image above.

The Heart of Greater Rochester

The city of Rochester and Monroe County are located on the southern shore of Lake Ontario. The county, named for President James Monroe, was created from portions of Ontario and Genesee counties in 1821. In the same year, the Erie Canal reached Bushnell’s Basin, near Pittsford. The canal eastward from Rochester to Albany opened in 1823 and the westward link to Buffalo opened in 1825. The original 14 towns in Monroe County were Brighton, Gates, Clarkson, Henrietta, Mendon, Ogden, Parma, Penfield, Perinton, Pittsford, Riga, Rush, Sweden and Wheatland.

Today, Monroe County consists of 19 towns, 10 villages and the city of Rochester. New York’s third-largest city, Rochester has some 208,000 residents, and the county’s population is roughly 750,000.

Driving distances from Rochester

Albany: 217 miles
Batavia: 33 miles
Binghamton: 152 miles
Buffalo: 70 miles
Corning: 86 miles
Ithaca: 82 miles
New York City: 354 miles
Niagara Falls: 82 miles
Niagara-on-the Lake: 98 miles
Syracuse: 82 miles
Toronto: 167 miles

For printable maps of Greater Rochester, click on the following links. To get directions, use the interactive map below.